PlayStation Home Focuses on Games as 'Killer Apps'
Service has seen 'significant revenue growth' from microtransactions.
PlayStation Home is still kicking around - just ask the service's director, Jack Buser, who says that it has seen "significant revenue growth" as Sony discovers the "killer app" for the virtual world software - games.
Although released figures by Sony detail a service that caters for 17 million registered users, the number of active Home users is expected to be much lower than that. The key to raising that figure, Buser says, is in its offering of free-to-play games.
"Games are the killer app for the platform," Buser tells Gamasutra. "I think once gamers find out that they have hundreds of games built into PlayStation Home, most of them free-to-play, [they will try Home]."
Despite the change in direction from a social platform to a gaming portal, Buser insists that Home has been a solid venture for Sony and not quite the waste of time a lot of gamers seem to think it is. "If you look at the first quarter of this calendar year, we actually tripled revenue from the same time period of the year prior.
"The business model works, and we like it quite a bit. It's one of the reasons we're able to offer PlayStation Home as a free service."
The Home team is reportedly trying to woo independent developers to the service, with a presence at IndieCade and the Game Developers Conference Online this year and a deal signed with publisher Codename to bring over its catalogue of games. Let's hope these upcoming titles don't involve waiting in a virtual queue for ten minutes.
Although released figures by Sony detail a service that caters for 17 million registered users, the number of active Home users is expected to be much lower than that. The key to raising that figure, Buser says, is in its offering of free-to-play games.
"Games are the killer app for the platform," Buser tells Gamasutra. "I think once gamers find out that they have hundreds of games built into PlayStation Home, most of them free-to-play, [they will try Home]."
Despite the change in direction from a social platform to a gaming portal, Buser insists that Home has been a solid venture for Sony and not quite the waste of time a lot of gamers seem to think it is. "If you look at the first quarter of this calendar year, we actually tripled revenue from the same time period of the year prior.
"The business model works, and we like it quite a bit. It's one of the reasons we're able to offer PlayStation Home as a free service."
The Home team is reportedly trying to woo independent developers to the service, with a presence at IndieCade and the Game Developers Conference Online this year and a deal signed with publisher Codename to bring over its catalogue of games. Let's hope these upcoming titles don't involve waiting in a virtual queue for ten minutes.
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